Car parts manufacturer Nifco UK has secured £17.4m worth of business so far this year and reiterated plans to recruit 350 people over the next five years.

The Eaglescliffe-based maker of plastic components reaffirmed the plans in its latest set of accounts which showed a surge in pre-tax profits from £3.8m to £7.5m during 2014.

Sales increased from £50m to £55.4m in the same period as Nifco talked of “much improved” performance following a “demanding and challenging” year of consolidation.

The period followed a move from Yarm Road in Stockton to its new £8.5m Durham Lane base.

A weaker pound boosted the firm’s order book throughout the period although it warned strengthening beyond the year end could dampen demand for UK products.

New business for 2015 was already £9.9m ahead of budget at £17.4m and the firm boasted of an expected £65m revenue for the year.

Writing in a report accompanying the accounts, Nifco director Mike Matthews said: “2015 represents the sixth consecutive year of growth for Nifco UK. With ongoing refinement and improvement of business strategies both internally and externally, the business is becoming, year-on-year, more effective in operations and, year-on-year more effective at winning new business.

“For the last six years we have met new business achievement targets every single year. We have achieved in excess of £24m sales nominations in 2014 and £17.4m in 2015 so far. Current projections could see Nifco UK achieve sales in order of £100m by 2020.”

Nifco opened its second factory this year – which included a new research and development facility.

The facility is not expected to be profitable until 2018 at the earliest

It is planning to open a third to cope with its growing order book – which includes major car brands such as Nissan, Ford, Toyota and Jaguar Land Rover.

The company has not confirmed the exact locations for the four sites in the running for the new factory, but they are thought to include Lingfield Point in Darlington.

The frontrunner will be recommended to the Nifco board in Japan.

Established in 1990 on acquiring Elta Plastics, the Japanese-owned company makes plastic components from door handles to bumper brackets.

Just seven years ago, Nifco UK was forced to shed staff as the recession took hold.

But it has since turned its fortunes around, positioning itself as a centre of excellence for automotive manufacturing with a growing R&amp;D division.

Earlier this year, Nifco UK won a 10-year Ford deal worth up to £50m, beating rival companies in Germany, Japan and China.

A three-year Nifco project that will see £285,000 of training delivered to employees through Middlesbrough College is also underway.

The new site could be open by the end of 2016. The company’s previous site in Yarm Road is being sold to budget supermarket retailer Lidl.

The firm recently also held a careers fair – for its own staff.

Nifco’s internal careers development fair was a chance for its 500 plus strong team to find out more about the different roles available to them.

The company hosted the event last week, as a chance to encourage its team to explore roles that may suit their skills

The event, which was organised by the company’s HR team, was attended by more than 100 people, who are looking at other career opportunities within the business.

Nifco encourages its team to explore different roles, with its internal jobs market freeing up positions that can be filled by new people.